Bolt cutter



W. F. BROSKE BOLT CUTTER Filed May 6, 1957 Sept. 9, 1958 imwwwm zwINVENTOR. \A/ILLIAM F.BRosKE 2,850,802 Patented Sept. 9, 1958 BDLTCUTTER William F. Broske, Camp Hill, Pa., assignor to AMP "Incorporated,Harrisburg, Pa.

Application May 6, 1ss7, Serial No. 657,195

Claims. (21. 30-226) This invention relates to bolt cutting devices andconstitutes an improved alternative in bolt cutters over the type shownin U. S. patent to Wenger, No. 2,560,318.

The Wenger patent discloses a bolt cutting device comprising a pair ofparallel plates, one of which provides a threaded aperture and the otherof which provides an unthreaded oversized aperture for the bolt which isto be cut or sheared. In operation, the bolt is threaded through thethreaded aperture until the end which is to be removed extends beyondand through the unthreaded aperture in the second one of the plates. Atleast one of the plates is then moved relative to the other and in aparallel plane to bring the end of the bolt against the edges of theunthreaded aperture. This movement of the plates results in a shearingof the end of the bolt and produces a clean fracture without damage tothe threads at the end of bolt in the vicinity of the fracture. One ofthe principal advantages of the Wenger type bolt cutter is that a cleanfracture is produced and the threads of ,the bolt are not damaged ordeformed.

In the past, tools in accordance with the Wenger patent have beenmanufactured by drilling the holes for the threaded apertures (wheremore than one bolt size is accommodated on the single tool) and thentapping the holes to the desired thread standards for the bolts.Furthermore, it is usually, if not always, necessary to harden the platehaving the threaded apertures therein since the material from which theplate is made must be relatively machineable during the drilling andtapping operations but must be relatively hard and tough if it is towithstand prolonged usage. It can be readily perceived that theseoperations of drilling, tapping, and heat treating of each tool as it isproduced are relatively time consuming and expensive and tend to inflatethe cost of any tool incorporating the Wenger invention to an undulyhigh level. This is particularly true since it is usually desirable in atool incorporating the Wenger invention to provide a number of threadedapertures to accommodate several of the more common sizes of bolts whichare encountered in use and, of course, for each bolt a separate drillingand tapping operation is required.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved boltcutting device which is reliable and sturdy and which can bemanufactured in a simple and inexpensive manner. A more specific objectis to provide a bolt cutter which can be manufactured without thenecessity of drilling and tapping operations for each bolt size which isto be provided for. A further object is to provide a bolt cutting deviceincorporating parts which can be manufactured from sheet or thin platematerial by conventional punch press operations. Further objects andattainments of the invention will be apparent from the description whichfollows and from the annexed drawings in which:

Figure l is a frontal view, with the front plate removed, of a preferredembodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the parts in adifferent relationship relative to each other; and

Figure 3 is a side view with parts broken away, taken in the directionof the arrows 3-3 of Figure 2 and showing a bolt in position forshearing.

In my preferred embodiment of the invention I provide a pair of plates2, 4 having handle portions 3, 5 integral therewith and extending fromtheir lower ends as viewed in Figure 2. These plates are maintained inspaced apart relationship by spacer 6 and by fasteners such as rivets 8which extend through each of the plates and through the spacer 6. Anadditional spacer 10 is provided between the plates at the top portionsthereof and additional rivets or other fasteners 12 secure the plates intheir spaced apart relationship through this top spacer.

Interposed between the pair of plates 2, 4 is a slidable plate 14 havinga central opening 16 of generally rectangular shape but having notches18 cut out from the ends thereof. These notches are of a width slightlygreater than the width of spacer 6 to permit entry of the spacer intothe notches during sliding movement of plate 14 relative to fixed plates2, 4. The height of opening 16 is preferably slightly less than theheight of spacer 6 as shown by the drawing, and the edges of opening 16are spaced from the edges of spacer 6. A plurality of nuts 20 havingthreaded apertures 22 adapted to accommodate a range of bolt sizes areloosely positioned between the edges of opening 16 and the edges ofspacer 6. These nuts may be of standard type in all respects exceptingthat they advantageously should have parallel flat faces rather thancurved surfaces on one face as is common in some types of standard nuts.Substantially flat, parallel faces can be produced by grinding nuts 20but it is not essential that this be done. If the faces of the nuts areslightly dished (as is often the case where they are produced by a punchpress), they can be accommodated in the type of tool shown in Figure 1since it is not essential that the nuts fit snuglybetween plates 2, 4.Opening 16 is so dimensioned relative to the size of the nuts that theyfit within the space between the edges of spacer 6 and the edges ofopening 20 as shown, although the fit need not be tight and it is notnecessary to secure the nuts in place, as shown in Figure l, by weldingor otherwise. Preferably and in the disclosed embodiment, square nutsare employed in the invention although it will be apparent that nuts ofother shapes can be used if the marginal portions of opening 16 conformsufficiently to the edges and the peripheries of the nuts to retain themin position.

Plate 2 provides a plurality of apertures 24, the centers of which arespaced from each other by approximately the same amount as the centersof threaded apertures 22 in nuts 29. The aperture in plate 2 for eachnut is slightly oversized relative to the threaded aperture in the nutso that a bolt threaded through the nut can extend freely through itsproper one of the apertures 24. The other one of the plates 4 is slottedas indicated at 23 to permit access to the faces of nuts 20 from thefront of the tool as viewed in Figure 2. Slots 23- are somewhat narrowerthan nuts 20 so that the longitudinal edges of these slots extend overthe marginal portions of the nuts to retain them between plates 2, 4 andwithin opening 16 of plate 14. These slots should also be of sufficientlength to permit movement of any of the nuts for a distance sufficientto effect shearing at the interface of the nuts and plate 4. This-isillustrated in Figure 2 by the uppermost one of the nuts which shows thethreaded apertures of the nuts in nonaligned position relative to theopenings 24 of plate 2 but the threaded apertures do not extend beneaththe surface of plate 4.

Force multiplying means are provided for causing sliding movement ofplate 14 relative to fixed plates 2, 4 and in the disclosed embodimentthis force multiplying means takes the form of a cam 25 on the end of alever having a handle 26 which is pivoted as at 28 to fixed plates 2, 4.The arrangement is, of course, such that upon movement of the handleportion 26 of the lever towards handles 3, 4, plate 14 is movedrelatively upwardly in Figure l to theposition of Figure 2. When thehandles are moved away from each other, plate 14 is returned to itsinitial position by virtue of the extension 27 of plate 14 which bearsagainst the end portion of the cam 25.

It is desirable under some circumstances to provide additional guidemeans and stop means for plate 14 and in my preferred embodiment thisadditional guide means takes the form of an extension 29 of plate 14which fits within a cut out section 31 of top spacer 10. In thedisclosed embodiment, sliding plate 14 also functions as a crimping diefor electrical terminals and to this end provides a die surface 30adapted to cooperate with a corre sponding die surface 32 on fixedspacer 10.

In use, handle 26 is manipulated to position sliding plate 14 such thatthe threaded apertures of nuts 20 are in aligned relationship to theoversized apertures 22 in plate 2. Thereafter, the bolt which is to becut is threaded through the appropriate one of the nuts 29 until the endwhich is to be removed extends through the appropriate aperture 24 asshown in Figure 3. The handles are then closed and the bolt is shearedat the plane of the interface of fixed plate 2 and sliding plate 14.

Several advantages of the invention will be apparent from an inspectionof the drawing and particularly from a consideration of some of thefeatures which permit economical and rapid manufacture. For example,many of the parts can be manufactured by inexpensive punch pressoperations from an ordinary carbon steel plate or sheet (e. g., of about0.083 inch in thickness). The nuts 20 can be of an ordinary commerciallyavailable type and are of course extremely inexpensive, particularly iftheir cost is compared with the manufacturing cost involved in adrilling and tapping operation as required in the previously knownWenger invention. These nuts can be hardened as by carburizing,nitriding or by any suitable similar process, and this operation can becarried out with ease on the nuts which are extremely small and arehighly responsive to a case hardening operation. It will be apparentfrom the drawing that the construction of the tool is such thatextremely close dimensional tolerances are not needed. This fact ic ofimportance since it permits the use of parts formed by stamping or othermetal forming techniques which are inexpensive but not dimensionallyprecise. A further point is that assembly of the component parts of thetool is an extremely simple operation and the final assembly need onlybe riveted to l secure the parts together.

While I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention, obviousmodifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art to which itappertains.

I claim:

1. A bolt cutter comprising a pair of plates slidable over each other,an opening in one of said plates and a nut positioned within saidopening co-planar with said one plate, said opening in said one plateconforming to the outline of said not thereby to prevent substantialmovement of said nut relative to said one plate, a boltreceivingaperture in the second one of said plates which is oversize relative tothe threaded aperture of said nut, said bolt-receiving aperture and saidthreaded aperture being relatively movable from an axially aligned to anaxially nonaligned position as said plates are moved relatively to eachother, whereby a bolt threaded through said threaded opening and havingend portions extending through said bolt-receiving aperture is shearedat the plane of the interface of said plates.

2. A bolt cutter comprising a pair of plates slidable over each other,an opening in one of said plates and a plurality of nuts positionedwithin said opening co-planar with said one plate, said nutssubstantially filling said opening thereby to prevent substantialmovement of any of said nuts relative to said one plate, a plurality ofbolt-receiving apertures in the other of said plates, each of said nutsbeing movable from an axially aligned position relative to one of saidapertures to an axially nonaligned position as said plates are movedrelatively over each other, whereby a bolt threaded through one of saidnuts and having an end extending through one of said bolt-receivingapertures is sheared in the plane of the interface of said plates.

3. A bolt cutter as set forth in claim 2 including means for retainingsaid nuts within said opening.

4. A bolt cutter comprising, a pair of plates secured to each other inspaced-apart relationship, a third plate slidably positioned betweensaid spaced-apart plates, an opening in said third plate and a pluralityof nuts positioned within said opening, said nuts each incorporating athreaded aperture and substantially filling said opening thereby toprevent substantial movement of said nuts relative to said third platewithin said opening, a plurality of bolt receiving apertures in a firstone of said spacedapart plates, and slot means in the second one of saidplates aligned with said opening and with said bolt-receiving apertures,marginal portions of said slots extending over edge portions of saidnuts to retain said nuts between said plates, said third plate beingslidable from a position in which said threaded apertures of said nutsare aligned with said bolt-receiving apertures to a position where thethreaded apertures in the nuts are not aligned with said bolt-receivingapertures whereby, upon threading a bolt through one of said nuts andupon moving said third plate relative to said pair of spaced-apartplates, the end portion of said bolt is sheared.

5. A bolt cutter comprising a pair of plates secured to each other inparallel, spaced-apart relationship, a guide member positioned betweensaid plates, '21 third p ate slidably interposed between said pair ofplates and providing an opening in surrounding relationship to saidguide mem her, said guide member functioning to limit movement of saidthird plate relative to said pair of plates, edge portions of saidopening being parallel to and spaced from edge portions of said guidemember, a plurality of nuts disposed eoplanar with said third platebetween said edge portions of said guide member and edge portions ofsaid opening, one of said pair of plates providing slot means providingaccess to the threaded apertures of said nuts, the marginal portions ofsaid nuts extending beyond the edges of said slot means whereby saidnuts are retained between said plates, a plurality of bolt-receivingapertures in the other one of said plates, the threaded openings of saidnuts being alignable with said bolt-receiving openings whereby, uponinserting a bolt through said slot means and threading said bolt throughone of said nuts a distance such that its curl extends through one ofsaid bolt receiving Openings, and upon sliding of said third plate, saidbolt is sheared at the interface of said third plate and the said otherone of said plates.

No references cited.

